Shaul Avigur

Shaul Avigur was born in 1899 in Daugavpils

Shaul Avigur was born Shaul Meirov in 1899 in Dvinsk, in the Russian Empire, today Daugavpils in Latvia. His parents were Yehuda and Frida Meirov, and his father belonged to Hovevei Zion. He received a Hebrew and Zionist education as a child.

He moved to the Land of Israel as a boy and studied at the Herzliya Gymnasium. In 1917 the Ottoman authorities expelled him with the other residents of Tel Aviv, and in 1918 he joined Kvutzat Kinneret. His sister Tzipora married Moshe Sharett.

In 1920 he joined the defenders of Tel Hai, and in 1922 he became a member of the Haganah center. In 1934 he founded the SHAI, the Haganah's intelligence service. From 1939 he worked in the Mossad Le'aliyah Bet, which brought Jews into the country, and became its commander.

In the War of Independence he ran arms purchasing in Europe and then served as deputy to David Ben-Gurion in the defense ministry. His son Gur was killed in that war, and he changed his name to Avigur in his memory. In 1953 he became the founding head of Nativ, which kept contact with Jews in the Soviet Union, and he led it until 1970.

In 1973 he received the Israel Prize for his special contribution to society and the state. He returned to live at Kvutzat Kinneret in the early 1970s. He died in 1978 and was buried in the Kinneret cemetery.